In light of the troubling economic climate and tightening job market, what is the one thing that job-seekers must do in order to be successful in landing a good job in 2009?

Exhaust All Options

Tell everyone you know about the type of position you are looking for, network online and at industry events, go on informational interviews, work with a recruiting firm, take on temporary assignments, and be flexible when meeting with prospective employers.

When developing your cover letter and resume, quantify the value of your contributions to previous employers, including how you helped cut costs, reduce inefficiencies or improve profitability. There are opportunities available, but job seekers will have to work harder to find them and cannot afford to leave even one stone unturned.
- DeLynn Senna, executive director of North American permanent placement services, Robert Half International

Network With Smarts

Candidates must be building and strengthening their network - ideally before it’s needed. Find networking events to go find other like-minded individuals and connectors. Build your online presence through your social networks and be an active participant in the community. And remember to give more than take - share your knowledge, help others be better, and invest time in building strong, long-lasting relationships. These are the relationships that could turn into future job leads.
- Lindsay Olson, partner, Paradigm Staffing

Flexibility Is Key

Stay open to opportunities in new or related industries, companies of a different size, or in a different location; and be aware that with the advent of technology, a new location just may be your home office.

Be flexible. You may or may not have to travel a bit more, take a different title, or give up some of the perks you’ve had in the past to assume your new role. All things being equal, if you’re flexible around these topics you’re chances of getting hired increase considerably.
- Cheryl Ferguson, recruiter, The Recruiter’s Studio

Diversify and Listen

My advice is two-fold: Be ready to diversify the ways in which you communicate your experiences AND listen well.

First, make a laundry list, just for yourself, of all the projects, contributions, ideas, etc., from your last three positions. This is what’s not on your resume. It jogs your memory about how you have differentiated yourself. You’ll recall and distill examples of your success, and you’ll be ready for more questions.

Second, listen closely to what the recruiter and/or hiring manager is asking you. They are looking for something very particular, whether the opportunity is leadership or entry-level. Walking someone through your resume or citing examples that they’re not seeking could hinder your ability to seem specific to their job. You want to be very clear about your transferable skills and your willingness to adapt to their environment.
- Ross Pasquale, recruiting/sourcing consultant, Monday Ventures

Tailor Your Resume

The most important thing that job seekers must do in 2009 to be successful is to diversify the content of their resumes based on the roles that they are applying for. For example, a job seeker may have worked in the past as a Java engineer, and also obtained project management along the way. However, a resume that is oriented strongly toward being a Java engineer has only a slight chance of being considered for a project-manager position.

For job seekers to increase their chances at success, they should shape their resumes to reflect relevant matching skills with the job posting(s) they are applying to. By doing so, a recruiter and/or hiring manager will more easily understand how a job seeker’s past experiences apply to the posted role. This method increases the chance of being considered a strong candidate, receiving an interview, and, ultimately, a new position. 
- Joanna Samuels, senior account manager, GravityPeople

I’ve been involved with hiring and placing workers in creative positions since the late 90’s. It’s something that is easy to do, but difficult to do well.  Most creative staffing agencies, or staffing agencies in general, will look to match paper resumes to paper job descriptions and hope for the best.

Throughout my 5 years of running the recruitment and hiring practice for a large interactive agency, I learned that making that connection is only part of the equation, and sometimes the best candidate might not appear to be the best on paper. 

While never professing to be perfect at it (we are dealing with people after all) 52 strives to take creative staffing to a level that views the whole employer/employee relationship as just that….a relationship…one that can be a good or bad, but making that determination should never be based merely on what looks to connect on paper. It’s all about nuance and knowing the people involved.  Again, easy concept but one that many miss or chose to ignore as it takes time to develop the knowledge and relationships required.

52 has long struggled with the word staffing. When we first opened our doors in early 2005, we proclaimed ourselves a new hybrid business: a creative resource company. We shied away from the word staffing for fear of the historical negative connotations associated with the word. After all, we placed skilled, talented professionals, and staffing to us meant a less sophisticated and disciplined practice. A job shop if you will. But a lot of people asked us questions, like “if you don’t do staffing, what do you do?” And, of course, we’d answer, “well we do staffing, but we do it in a different way.”

When delivering a marketing message describing what you do as a business, confusion is not a good thing. So, we deciding to embrace staffing but continue to stress the difference to our brand of staffing.

So, there it is. I’ll say it. 52 Limited. Portland’s creative staffing leader.

52 Limited managing partner, Steve Potestio, spoke to Mt. Hood Community College’s class of integrated media students. The class was comprised of students in graphic design, interactive media, television production, radio broadcasting and photography.

Steve spoke of the current state of the employment market within Portland creative services and gave advice for those seeking employment in the field. Insight was also provided into working through placement agencies, freelancing and the difference between working for a corporation or working for a creative company, such as a design firm or advertising agency.

Advice on resumes, interviewing, portfolios, and the importance of networking rounded out the discussion.

Judging by the number of calls 52 Limited receives each week from folks all over the country Portland continues to be strong on the creative class’ radar.

Portland graphic designers should take note. People from Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other major markets are looking to move here in droves and they will aggressively be seeking work. And due to the level of hustle needed to get ahead in these markets, these folks don’t always take no for an answer. Some will find Portland’s pace of life and commerce frustrating, others will assimilate and do quite well.

This migration is welcome and will continue to make Portland a focal point for creative thinking. One question is whether Portland, and Portland’s employment market, is ready for this influx? Are there enough jobs? Without the large corporate base other cities enjoy, Portland has fewer large marketing departments to hire staffs of designers. Portland though has always been a small design firm town so that trend should continue as many transplants open their own practice.

What drives people here? The same things that make this a livable place. Recreation opportunities. Parks. Urban Planning. Sustainability focus. Take a look at the industries here and there is commonality. Sports apparel, footwear, recreation and equipment. This synergy will continue to build upon itself with companies like Keen Footwear following the migration. Let’s hope this continues and job growth remains strong.

Unpretentious, relaxed, quirky, and fiercely independent, Portland’s creative community is very much on the down low in terms of nationwide visibility. Even though our agencies consistently garner national awards, and our boutique agencies produce some of the most original advertising, marketing, and creative material anywhere. But people are beginning to take notice that Portland is truly a dynamic creative hub.

Young creatives fresh out of college and art schools flock here. Talented people with established names and businesses in larger markets are moving to Portland for quality of life reasons a smaller city with outstanding arts and culture, diverse and urban with great planning, respectful of the environment, and with some of the best food, wine, and beer in the country. In a word, Portland exemplifies liveability. Often they’re also bringing their high paying clients with them who positively impact our economy.

Major companies already recognize the city’s wealth of creative talent. Nike is a homegrown powerhouse that has forged a long-term advertising partnership with Wieden and Kennedy. Adidas has their North American headquarters here. This competitive atmosphere also helped raise the profile of local companies such as Columbia Sportswear. Now a new wave of companies is drawn to Portland for its talented creatives and energized setting. Nautilus, Keen Footwear, Nau all come to mind.

We’re seeing this exciting new wave of talented people in our own practice. At 52 Limited, we’re working with creative and inventive people from many places and backgrounds: art directors from New York, designers from Minnesota, copywriters from San Francisco, fashion designers from Los Angeles to name a few. As a creative resource company, we’re able to match highly talented individuals with our best businesses. We work diligently to ensure success at all levels. Our growing creative base has made this an easier task. Success breeds success. The more outstanding our industry becomes, the more Portland shines as a creative center.

Still, with all of this talent and all of this great work, why doesn’t Portland have the national recognition of L.A. or Chicago? Certainly agencies like Wieden & Kennedy and Sandstrom Design are doing high profile international work and being acclaimed for it. Unfortunately, most of our best work goes unnoticed outside of the Northwest. Our small shops and boutique agencies lack the marketing clout and bold-faced bravado to push their products to a higher level of recognition.

But maybe smaller and quieter is better in the long run. Do we really want to be like L.A. very talented but lacking in proportion, balance and livability? We cherish our unassuming nature, and we hardly revel in the bling bling of everything. Maybe, though, we could use a little push. Perhaps we need to blow our own horns more, attracting attention to our work with just a bit more panache. We can keep our vibrant, independent Portland aesthetic but join together to coax ourselves more noticeably upon the national stage. The challenge, of course, is how to do this. Who will step up and take us to that higher level? Self-promotion certainly has its merits! Everyday fascinating and imaginative ideas originate in the Portland creative community. We just would enjoy more people knowing about them.

Today’s agencies know that having the best talent wins the game. To attract the best talent, your company must build a positive culture. “Culture” may be today’s buzzword, but its effect cannot be overstated. Peter Metz, creative director for Sockeye Creative, states, “I think culture is huge in our industry–so anything you can do to improve it, the better the creative is going to be. Designers are a touchy-feely group. They need to fell supported and have trust in the process. Otherwise they will be much more guarded and that doesn’t lead to good work.”

Building a positive culture begins with positive recruitment and retention strategies. Are unqualified resumes filed away on your hard drive, never to be seen again? Or, are they just deleted entirely? Do you respond to those candidates who are unqualified? If not, you need to rethink your strategy. Any contact with potential employees, qualified or not, helps build your brand identity in the marketplace.

Your first contact with potential employees is usually the interview. Don’t fall into the trap of making candidates answer what they can do for your company. You need to allow candidates to interview you and the company. Think of the interview as an exploration of what it would be like to work together. Treat people as if they were already part of the team and helping to building the brand.

Hire cultural fit over skills and experience when deciding between candidates. Don’t sacrifice experience or skills your company needs, but also don’t be afraid to pass on a hot shot if he or she doesn’t fit the company culture. Hiring without this fit could poison the culture, the brand and ultimately alienate the employee. “My own checklist in interviewing candidates for any position in the company included cultural fit. Being a good fit meant more than having the right skills or relevant experience for the job,” says Steff MacDonald, VP of client services for Dunthorpe Marketing. “‘Fit’ meant being able to verbally and non-verbally demonstrate how closely their own core values or inner culture would benefit the team and company. Of course it takes more time and interviews to discover these key traits but when we invested the time to do this we hired happier long-term employees who helped meet outstanding company goals and grew very well professionally.”

I know about building culture first-hand. I joined ID Branding and Via Training in 2000 as the Human Resources Manager and I had my work cut out for me. Although ID was known as a hip design agency, Via was still unknown as an online sales-training company. Sales training was not an easy sell, and I knew I had to build the best culture possible to recruit the most talented people. By 2005 Via employed almost 140 of Portland’s most talented people. In five years, Via had grown rapidly and became known as a fun, fair and overall great place to work.

Most creative shops in Portland aren’t large enough to have an internal recruiter or an HR department. You may not need these positions to attract talent, but you do need a philosophy and a process for hiring managers. Your recruitment process must ensure follow-up with candidates, qualified or not. This is crucial. You never want candidates to say “I interviewed there but never heard back.”

Building a positive culture builds your brand. Remember, the process of creating that culture starts the day a candidate calls you about a job opening. It starts the day a resume hits your inbox, or the day a candidate interviews. A positive culture attracts and retains the best, most talented people. Attracting and retaining talent drives your company’s success. Here’s to culture, brand and success!